Tao Linux is a distribution rebuilt from source RPM packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and Tao 4 has been announced to have gone 'gold': "Changes from the beta: Fixed mod_perl, httpd wouldn't start; Fixed glade, wouldn't start; Corrected comps.xml to always install tao-yumconf; GDM theme artwork from Ben Cobb; Included lots of good free html documentation, included in a 'graphical internet' install." Here is the release announcement. You can download Tao 4 by navigating to a mirror near you: sponge-i386-disc1.iso (615MB), sponge-i386-disc2.iso (634MB), sponge-i386-disc3.iso (616MB), sponge-i386-disc4.iso (138MB); also available as a single binary sponge-i386-bin-dvd.iso (2001MB).

Tao Linux (pronounced 'dow' Linux) is a project to build a free Linux distribution from the sources used in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux product line. The target market is either experienced system administrators who would like freely available binaries of this code, or end users who are interested in experimenting with enterprise functionality. Besides being mostly compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, it also includes software packages such as Eclipse and clustering tools not found in the base RHEL products.

A new version of Tao Live 4, a live CD based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, has been released: "A new version of the Tao Live CD is available. Version 4.03 features: documentation for beginners (French and English); support for English (Canada and USA), French (Canada) and Spanish (Mexico) locales; kernel 2.6.9-22.0.1.SquashFS1; support for USB storage of userspace (still experimental). Tao Live uses a Squash filesystem to fit 2 GB of programs into a standard bootable CD. OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Gaim, XMMS, K3B and many other programs are included. A few boot options are currently available." Here is the full release announcement. Download: tao-live-4.03.iso (700MB, MD5), also available via BitTorrent.

Tao Linux is the latest RHEL-based distribution with updated releases of both its versions 1.0 (rebuilt from RHEL 3) and 4 (rebuilt from RHEL 4). Tao 1.0 U6 updated ISOs: "Yesterday I pushed a new set of ISOs to the main site; by today, all the mirrors should have them. This respin is current with all security updates through yesterday." Tao 4 Update 2 respin: "I pushed out the new Tao 4 ISOs yesterday, and they should be available on all the mirrors today. It'll probably be tomorrow before I push the remaining updated packages out to the yum repositories for pre-u2 systems. Other than the updated yum packages which are already available in the testing repo, there's nothing exciting here." Download: mooch-i386-bin-dvd.iso (1,881MB, MD5) and sponge-i386-bin-dvd.iso (2,033MB, MD5).

Tao Live is a live CD edition of Tao Linux, a distribution rebuilt from source RPMs of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. An updated version 4.02 has been released: "A new version of the Tao Live CD is available. Version 4.02 features: documentation for beginners (French and English); support for English (Canada & USA), French (Canada) and Spanish (Mexico) locales; kernel 2.6.9-11.SquashFS2; support for USB storage of userspace (still experimental). Tao Live uses a Squash filesystem to fit 2GB of programs into a standard bootable CD. OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Gaim, XMMS, K3b and many other programs are included. A few booting options are currently available." Read the full release announcement for further information. Tao Live CD 4.02 is available for download via BitTorrent: tao-live-4.02.iso (699MB).

Tao Live is the first Linux live CD based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4. Version 4.01 is an update to an earlier release: "A new version of the Tao Live CD is available. Version 4.01 features: kernel 2.6.9-5.0.5.SquashFS1; support for USB storage of userspace; GNOME is the default desktop environment (KDE still included); support for French (Canada) and Spanish (Mexico) locales; update to busybox 1.00. Tao Live uses a Squash file system to fit 2 GB of programs into a standard bootable CD. OpenOffice.org, Firefox, Gaim, XMMS, K3B and many other programs are included. A few boot options are currently available." Here is the full release announcement. The ISO image is available for free download via BitTorrent: tao-live-4.01.torrent (675MB).

Tao Linux is a distribution rebuilt from source RPM packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). With the recent release of RHEL 3 Update 4, Tao Linux is now offering new ISO images incorporating all Red Hat updates: "OK, now that the dust has settled from RHEL3 U4, I've created updated ISOs for Tao Linux. These ISOs have all updates as of 2005-01-05. There's not an awful lot new; the thing that excites me most is the Metacity update that fixes the long-standing window dragging bug. On another note, Pasi Pirhonen has left the Tao project, and will no longer be updating x86_64, ia64, & s390. I'm pretty keen to see somebody take over x86_64, which I perceive as the most used architecture next to i386. If interested, e-mail parsley at linuxjedi dot org." Here is the release announcement and here are the CD/DVD images: mooch-i386-disc1.iso (610MB), mooch-i386-disc2.iso (635MB), mooch-i386-disc3.iso (539MB), mooch-i386-bin-dvd.iso (1,776MB).

An updated ISO image set of Tao Linux is now available: "OK, the fall semester at AU has been a bear, but I've finally managed to get the u3+ respin out. This includes all updates current to 11-2-2004. While GFS is available via yum install, it wasn't integrated because it caused odd kernel dependencies (this would need more hacking, and may not be worth it). I've split the DVD into separate binary & source DVDs - I hope that eventually the source ISOs are common for all platforms. Due to an issue with 'yum update' breaking, update 3 for non-i386 is not currently available, but may be available later." The release announcement. Download: mooch-i386-disc1.iso (595MB) and mooch-i386-disc2.iso (636MB), mooch-i386-disc3.iso (537MB). Tao Linux is a free Linux distribution compiled from source RPMs of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.

The Tao Linux project, the maker of a Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, has released an updated ISO image set: "OK, as promised I've finally gone and created a new set of ISOs, folding in current updates (through RHEL3 U2 and beyond). I've also made them available via BitTorrent now (and added BitTorrent client to [contrib]). You can download now, or check out the release announcement. At the same time, Pasi Pirhonen has created new update 2 ISOs for ia64 (new), x86_64, and s390, see his release announcement." Download: mooch-i386-disc1.iso (618MB), mooch-i386-disc2.iso (638MB), mooch-i386-disc3.iso.